


The Suspicious Start

by SioDymph



Category: A Series of Unfortunate Events (2004), A Series of Unfortunate Events (TV), A Series of Unfortunate Events - Lemony Snicket
Genre: Gen, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, six badelaire au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-16
Updated: 2019-02-16
Packaged: 2019-10-29 09:32:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,067
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17805503
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SioDymph/pseuds/SioDymph
Summary: What if there weren’t just three Baudelaire orphans but six? Together they must struggle through the loss of everything they once knew and find a way to survive and escape their new guardian.Based off the “Six Baudelaire AU” by midas_touch_of_angst (unfortunate-stranger-losers on tumblr)





	The Suspicious Start

**Author's Note:**

> Hey there! I’ve loved the idea of the Movie!Verse and Netflix!Verse Baudelaires all being a big family, an idea created by midas_touch_of_angst (go check out their “six baudelaire au” tag on tumblr, unfortunate-stranger-losers, it’s just so perfect and hilarious!) So I ended up writing a story for this AU! 
> 
> I hope you enjoy, I know it was certainly interesting to write!

The world can seem like a wonderful place. A world full of possibilities and good people who only want to help and care. A world where anything is possible and anything can happen.

And just as easily the world can seem like a terrible place. A world full of dangers and bad people who only want to take and hurt. A world where anything is possible and anything can happen.

But probably the most upsetting fact of the matter is that both of these viewpoints exist in the same world. At a moment’s notices a situation can change or a problem can suddenly be solved. And just as easily a day may begin bright and beautiful then end is sorrow and suspicion.

The world we live in strange. Full of unexpected occurrences and circumstances. And whether for better or for worse we all must live in such a strange world. It’s all we can do really.

Such a fate of struggle and survival in this strange world was given to the Baudelaire children, and it is a story I regrettably share with you now.

And while this world can seem so odd and unexpected, you have the choice to stop reading this story. You could stop reading this story right now and go back to your life, never having to know the trials and hurt the Baudelaire youngsters faced. And while I’d prefer it if you abandoned this story now before it gets any worse, if you do choose to keep reading all I can do is give you this warning:

The story you’re about to read is not a very happy one. With few happy moments that occur in its beginning, middle or end. However even in their bleakest moments there can still be hope found. Often in unexpected places or in twists of fate.

But fate is so easily twisted and warped. And hope so often can act like a wispy smoke. Easy to see and feel but so difficult to hold onto. So don’t expect the good pleasant times to last and be prepared for the troublesome tale I shall recount for you.

Like many tales, this one begins in a simple and innocent-seeming place. For the Baudelaire children, their story begins one day when out of the blue their parents sent them out to go spend a day at Briny Beach.

While the request in itself wasn’t odd, the Baudelaire’s loved going to the beach to walk along the shore and play, what was odd was the fact that their parents chose not to go with them. It would be one of the first times they were at Briny Beach unsupervised.

While confused, the children had happily obliged their parents. And after packing a picnic as well as several books and two untested inventions, the children all got on a trolley and rode it through the town and down to the sea shore. It was an over-cast day that while not rainy was still grey and foggy. It also happened to be one of the Baudelaire’s favorite times to come to the beach. Without the constant heat and blaze of the sun the beaches were all but abandoned of bothersome tourists, giving the Baudelaire children plenty of space to lay out their towels and the freedom to do whatever they wished. Excitedly, all of the children went to do some of their favorite things.

Lilac Baudelaire brought an invention she had begun constructing. A machine that could collect a rock you skipped across the water and return it to you. And she felt that their day at the beach would be the perfect time to test her creation. Though while she worked she kept an eye on all her siblings as they wandered and played.

Lilac was the eldest child. A brilliant girl with an incredible gift for inventing. In a world where most people might have seen destruction and garbage Lilac always saw potential, the future parts of a machine just waiting to be built. And when faced with problems she always looked around to find a solution. There was always something. From appearances, one might already assume Lilac Baudelaire was a unique person. She detested pink and other traditionally feminine colors and preferred to wear an all-black wardrobe. She also had the habit of regularly braiding her hair. Feeling loose hair on her neck and face always irritated her and the steady act of slowly braiding her long hair into thin little braids always helped her feel calm. As eldest she considered it her job to look after all her siblings and make sure they were all safe and loved.

Nick Baudelaire chose to wade through the tide pools with a field guide, a book filled with the names of specific geneses, families and species, and used it to identify the sea critters he found. He mostly found different types of mollusks and crabs burrowing in the sand and drifting with the tide.

Nick was the second born, and first son. And the only thing Nick cared for as much as his family were his books. Nick loved to read. He adored nothing more than spending an entire afternoon reading in their family’s library. And everything he read he remembered. The boy had an incredible eidetic memory and could recall even the smallest of details in an instance. He preferred to use his talents on memorizing facts of science and more. As for his choice of attire he usually wore causal wear, in varying shades of black, grey and sometimes navy blue to shake things up. His hair often held a frizzy, fluffy quality which his brother and sisters loved to tease him for. And Nick Baudelaire was known to have quite a temper and stubbornness when provoked. He was always ready to defend his ideas, even more so his family.

Klaus Baudelaire chose to construct a sand palace, inspired by the ziggurats of ancient Mesopotamia. It was a slow-going process as he found himself getting distracted whenever he looked out to the water and began thinking of the works of Ernest Hemingway.

Klaus was the second and final Baudelaire son, born only thirteen minutes after his brother. Much like his fraternal twin, Klaus also adored reading and had a gift for memorization. And though he didn’t share his brother’s specific fascination with facts, Klaus instead preferred works of literature, poetry, philosophy and history. Often Klaus found himself inspired by some of his favorite quotes and would say them out loud. He also held a love for libraries themselves and found it relaxing to categorize books. He had hopes of being a librarian and English professor someday. His siblings teased him for already looking the part. What with his big circular glasses, hair that was always neatly combed and parted, and a love for sweaters and tweed jackets. All in all he was a good kid who while nerdy in appearance also had a true passion for knowledge that could be heard whenever he spoke.

Violet Baudelaire too had brought along her own skipping-stone collecting machine, after beginning a friendly competition with her sister over how each would design such a device. She helped scout out an ideal location where she and Lilac could test their inventions under equal conditions, where the sand was level and the water was calm.

Violet was the fourth child and second daughter. Much like her older sister she was gifted to see the world as machines in the making. However while her sister aimed for practicality Violet had more of an eye for visual aesthetic and structure. She especially loved working with clocks, anything that required a labyrinth of gears and segments that all worked together to achieve a larger goal. And anyone who knew Violet could tell when she was thinking hard whenever she tied her hair back tightly with a ribbon. She found that the pressure on her scalp after pulling the loose hairs away from her eyes helped her focus. She also differed greatly from her older siblings in choice of clothes. Violet adored pink and loved to wear warm colors and pastels. And among her sibling Violet was considered the peacemaker due her incredible amounts of patience and kindness.

Solitude Baudelaire enjoyed helping her brother build his sand ziggurat. After learning the word “ziggurat” from Klaus she loved how it sounded and peppered it into her cheerful babble. And though not very historically accurate, Soli had fun making little sand-mounds decorated in shells around Klaus’s work.

Solitude, who often went by Soli, was many years younger than her older siblings as she was just a toddler. And while she was approaching the age one began speaking properly Soli seldom spoke and instead used what others assumed was babble. If you were to listen closely though you might be surprised to hear a secret budding genius. Hidden in her nonsense words was a specific pattern, a code to a developing language derived from various sounds and words. While not able to read yet Soli loved words and languages and often mixed them all together into her own special language that only her parents and sibling knew how to hear well. She also loved to wear big poofy dresses that would ruffle in the wind or whenever she chose to spin and jump. And her short tufts of blond hair were often pulled up into a bow by her sister Violet.

Sunny Baudelaire preferred not to explore tides, nor to play in the sand. Instead she spent her time chewing on rocks. Making sure they were the perfect size and smoothness for Lilac and Violet to experiment with.

Last but certainly not least of the Baudelaire children was little baby Sunny. Only an infant Sunny was a mystery, even to her family. For now all Sunny’s siblings knew about her was that she loved to speak in babble with Soli, already picking up on her secret language and using it to express herself. So far it seemed she had begun developing a unique sense of humor. She was also learning the gentle art of sass. But more than anything else she loved to bite. Sunny only had a few teeth but all of them were sharp and she had an incredibly strong jaw to go with it. She especially loved to bite into hard objects and rough textures. Being an infant she had no sense of individual style and was put in whatever her doting parents thought best, Violet also helped dressed her baby sister in outfits she found “adorable” but the others thought were “garish and too pastel”.

Perhaps in a happier, more merciful world the Baudelaire children would have continued their day at the beach. Perhaps they’d keep skipping stones, building sand castles and exploring the shore with all its treasures. Perhaps they’d stay out until the sun slowly set and colored the sky a deep fiery orange. And then coated in a layer of sand, smelling like the sea and exhausted from a wonderful day they’d take the trolley back home where their parents were waiting for them all. Open arms full of warmth and love… and life.

But unfortunately this is not that world. This is not that story. I’m sorry to say but they would not be staying at the beach for much longer. And they would never see their parents again.

Instead as clouds of fog rolled across the beach the youngest Baudelaire spotted a something.

“Egad!” Sunny shouted, pulling the rock from her mouth and pointing to the strange, shadowy figure that approached them through the fog.

Her siblings turned to where she pointed and saw the figure for themselves. Lilac stepped forwards with a rock in her hand, having half the mind to throw it at whoever was walking towards them if they proved to be an unsavory person.

As they got closer, their voice could be heard calling out. It was a voice the children all recognized. His cough even more so.

“Mr. Poe,” Lilac greeted, trying to hide the rock in her hand and feeling somewhat foolish. “How do you do?”

Mr. Poe for his part looked somewhat nervous, looking to each of the children before coughing into his handkerchief. “I could personally be doing better. But alright I suppose, given the circumstances…”

As he proceeded to cough again, Nick continued, hating how awkward things had become now that Mr. Poe invaded their day at the beach but growing curious as to what the man meant. “Circumstances?”

“Yes, yes. I…” Mr. Poe gave them all another look before sighing heavily. “I’m afraid I don’t know how to say this children. At least not gently. But something unfortunate has happened.”

“What?” Violet asked. “What do you mean?”

Mr. Poe gave them another tense look before saying something that would forever alter their lives.

“You’re parents have perished. In a fire… A fire that has also destroyed your entire home. I’m so sorry children.”

For the slightest moment the children thought perhapse Mr. Poe was joking. That their parents had gotten him to come to the beach and play a trick on them. Their home couldn’t be gone. Their parents couldn’t possibly be… But as the awkward, grim look persisted on Mr. Poe’s face they realized the severity of what he was saying.

Violet held Sunny close to her chest, as if she were clutching a doll. Klaus looked over to his family, seeing how they were all reacting as the news fully sunk in for himself. Soli clung to his pant legs, hugging his knees in a vice like grip until Klaus scooped her up. Nick hated the lost helpless feeling fluttering in his chest as he struggled to find his words. And Lilac just stared ahead. Frozen in place. The rock fell from her limp hand falling to the sand with a muted thud.

“Perish means destroyed.”

“We know what ‘perish’ means.” Klaus snapped.

“How?” Nick demanded. “How did it happen?”

“They weren’t able to find a cause to the fire, I’m afraid.” Mr. Poe replied.

“That doesn’t make sense. The fire had to be caused by something. Houses don’t just burst into flames!”

“Nick?” Violet said, her voice wavering.

Mr. Poe shook his head. “I can take you to see what’s left if you’d like. But I should warn you, I doubt it would anything besides upset you all further. There’s not much left.”

“Uhhh,” Slowly, Lilac found herself again. Looking to each of her siblings with a silent question before turning back to Mr. Poe. “We would like to see our home… Please?”

Mr. Poe looked like he wanted to disagree but instead, doing something he’d repeatedly do again and again over the span of his career, he relented and let his clients do whatever they wanted.

“Very well, we’ll go to the mansion. And afterwards we’ll have to discuss the matter of your parent’s will.”

“Our parents had a will already?” Klaus asked. His parent’s had always seemed like a young, healthy couple.

“Yes, they actually began drafting it as soon as Lilac was born. But we can discuss that all later. Come along!”

Having made their choice, the children all mutedly followed Mr. Poe away from the beach and towards their future. As they walked over to Mr. Poe’s car and drove away the children still didn’t know quite what to think. Nothing felt quite real, as if they were stuck in a dream of some kind.

How could this possibly be real?

When they saw what remained of their home however, that’s when reality began to truly set in.

Where their home had sat only hours before now was a massive pile of ashen rubble and debris. A few pieces of furniture and architecture were still standing, ashen but not crumbling quite yet. And they acted like phantom memories of their old house. And much to the children’s sorrow none of the books from their family’s massive library survived the fire. They along with almost everything else from their home was completely destroyed.

There was only a single object that was partially salvageable. As Klaus looked through the remains of an old drawer from what was once his mother’s study he spotted something odd. It appeared to be a spyglass with all sorts of weird knobs and etched markings that was only partially burnt. As he gingerly lifted the spyglass up the burnt half crumbled to ash in his hands. But the other half remained intact. He brought the spyglass half over for his brother to see.

“Hey Nick, does this seem familiar to you at all?”

Nick looked over the spyglass carefully. Moving it from hand to hand as he tried to recall all the books he’d read about spyglasses and languages. However none came to mind that appeared quite like this spyglass piece. “No, maybe Violet would know?”

They brought the spyglass to Violet. But she too was confused by it, though she was able to understand the device slightly more and she tinkered with the many knobs and dials on it. Squinting, she looked through one side and her face lit up. “Think these dials are changing the position of the glass frames inside. And parts of the frame seem heat-resistant. Where did you find this?”

“Mother’s study.” Klaus answered. “For some reason she had it hidden in a drawer.”

Violet hummed in reply and was just about to say something more when Mr. Poe called all the children back to join him and Lilac at was used to be their house’s entrance.

“Perhaps Mr. Poe might know.” Klaus said. “Or maybe one of the firefighters who investigated?”

“Surely someone would know.” Nick said.

The children slowly left the former study, hating to turn their back to what had been their mother’s favorite room in the entire mansion. But they could here Lilac calling them all back now too and didn’t want her to worry anymore that she was.

And they hoped someone might be able to answer their questions about their mother’s strange device.

However I’m sorry to say, they wouldn’t receive any complete answers for a long, long time. And the two people who could have explained everything best had chosen not to. And now they were gone.

And many more of their numerous secrets had died with them in that mysterious fire.


End file.
